Drage Academy
by rainbowfootsteps
Summary: Mathias is a student at Drage Academy, a school for Dragon riders. When Lukas joins the school Mathias is quick to befriend him and finds himself getting quite the crush. But then war strikes Drage Academy...
1. Dane and the Dragon

It wasn't often in life that one became used to being woken by the tongue of a dragon licking one's face, but Mathias had. On this particular morning, he was being nuzzled as well, the scaly nose of Eira, his Dragon, pushing on his cheek gently.

"Alright, I'm awake, stop it!" He complained, swatting her away. He breathed in the familiar scent of the Dragon stable, hay and wood and warmth. He slowly stood up, stretching and flicking pieces of hay off his clothes. His white jacket had a slight brown stain. He decided not to think too long about what the stain was from. Eira snorted and licked him again, her tongue raspy on his arm.

"I said stop it!" He reprimanded lightly, patting her nose. She was a beauty of a dragon - light blue in colour, with four clawed feet that could rip you in half in an instant. Her eyes were grey and twinkled with wisdom. But her wings were what made her special; she was one of the fastest dragons at the academy.

"I'll be back soon." He promised, giving her a goodbye pat before strolling out of the stall. Eira was well behaved, so it was rare that he had to close the stall door. Some of the other dragons were awake, but some still slumbered. While the stable was huge - big enough to fit 20 dragons - not all the dragons slept there. A few preferred to rest in the mountains. The black dragon in the stall beside Eira's was occasionally making puffs of smoke as it slept, nostrils flaring every time it breathed.

"Sleeping with your dragon mistress again?" Tino called from the stable entrance. Mathias grinned.

"Knock it off, short stuff!" He called back, jogging to join him. Tino was a cheerful student in his year, although not the best rider. Rumour was that he once broke someone's arm for insulting his dragon, but that was almost certainly a myth; it was impossible to imagine Tino ever hurting anyone, with his happy lavender eyes and slightly chubby appearance.

"I'm barely shorter than you!" Tino huffed. He was a good ten centimetres shorter than him, but Mathias decided not to point that out. He was dressed in a red top and grey baggy trousers that looked rather too big.

"You just spike your hair up!" He added. Mathias grinned. His wild blond hair was always gelled up in chaotic spikes.

"It makes me look like a viking." He replied.

"Not a cloud in the sky." He observed, glancing up. It was a beautiful summer's day at Drage Academy, which itself was quite beautiful. Drage Academy was placed up in the mountains, with snowy peaks surrounding it. The dragon stable opened into a cobbled square about as long as a soccer field and twice as wide, with a magnificent fountain in the centre. Along one sides of the square were the dormitories, beautiful viking longhouses. Opposite to the dormitories the square opened up to a massive field, where lessons were held. And in front of them, past the fountain, was the grand hall. Carved wooden walls depicted violent dragon battles and the slanting viking roof was dark and forbidding. A massive brass bell sat next to it, dwarfed by the hall.

"Pea-brain, midgard to Mathias, you alive?" Mathias was snapped out of his musing by a rather bored-looking Emil. It was as if he had teleported to get to Mathias's side - he had the creepy ability to just somehow appear beside you without you realising he was anywhere near. The youngest of his friends, Emil was cold, sarcastic and ultimately a bit waspish at the best of times, but he got along well with Mathias by some odd miracle.

"Yeah, yeah." Mathias replied, mind still absent. Now he was thinking about breakfast. Mm, he'd kill for something hot. By the time he had zoned back into the real world they had walked up to the fountain. Twice as high as Mathias, it was a spectacular stone statue of a rearing dragon, wings outstretched. A stream of water flowed from its open mouth and made an arc through the air before spilling back into the basin underneath. Flopping down on the stone side of the fountain, Mathias yawned.

"You'd feel more awake if you slept in the dorms." Tino pointed out. Emil rolled his eyes.

"The day Mathias stops sleeping with the Dragons will be the day Asgard falls." He said. Mathias was about to argue over this trivial point when the bell was rung, its melodic tone filling the square.

"Finally, breakfast!" Mathias cried, overjoyed. He had a feeling today would be better than usual.

"Race you!" Tino yelled, already sprinting towards the grand hall.

"That's cheating!" Mathias called back, breaking into a run. With a groan Emil started to run as well. Mathias won, slamming his hand on the side of the grand hall proudly. Surrounded by other students it was a bit of a battle to find Tino and Emil, but he finally rejoined them and they walked into the grand hall.


	2. ljón

The clamour inside the grand hall attacked Mathias's ears. Yells and cries of rambunctious students filled the hall, which echoed it all back slightly. The hall was covered in wooden tables and benches, set down rather randomly. Each dorm had their own table, which was recognised by an animal carved into the table. Mathias's had a lion. Beyond the tables at the back of the hall was a small stage, risen a metre or so above the tables. The grand hall was lit by candles and great arching windows.

A girl was sitting at a table with a very small dragon, the size of a rabbit, sitting on her head. Occasionally she would give it a piece of bacon. Bacon? Mathias ran to his dorm table with refreshed vigour, bouncing up and down in his seat.

"Bacon!" He cried dreamily, shoveling some onto the plate already on the table. Berwald was already eating, somehow managing to make eating bacon on toast look intimidating. Berwald was always rather scary - he was tall, big and constantly glaring, even when he was happy. It was rather disconcerting. You could rarely tell what emotion hid behind his glassy blue eyes.

"Oi! Oxen!" Mathias had to yell to be heard over the clamour of the room. Berwald glanced at him. The reason behind the nickname was Berwald's last name - Oxenstierna.

"Any new students in the dorm?" He roared over the din. Berwald shrugged. Aside from him and Mathias, Tino sat at the table. Emil slept in another dormitory.

"Attention!" A voice yelled. The noise of the room instantly died down as if by magic. Mathias looked up from his bacon to see the headmaster standing on the stage. Headmaster Erik was a daunting man. Large and redhaired with a massive beard, he wasn't the kind of man you were likely to pick a fight with. Despite this he had a kind heart, and everyone at the school liked him.

"It's been great to see you all settling down for another year at Drage Academy!" Erik boomed.

"Although it has been sad to see our seniors go, we rest well knowing they now protect us in the royal Dragon Force." He continued. He closed his eyes for a moment. It felt as if the whole room leaned in, waiting to see what he would say.

"I would like to welcome the new students, and also introduce a late student who has just made it here!" He said with a grin. Mathias could now see someone else standing on the stage beside Erik. The student had light blond hair and rather emotionless blue eyes, and wore a plain blue tunic and brown trousers. There was something striking about him, but Mathias couldn't place what.

"This is Lukas Bondevik, our newest student. He has been placed into the Lion dormitory!" Wait. That was his dorm! They did have an empty bed…

"He will find his Dragon companion later today!" With this, Erik was finished and already marching off the stage. Lukas followed.

"So he's going to be in our dorm?" Tino said excitedly. Berwald smiled ever so slightly at him. Tino and Berwald were quite possibly the most bizarre couple in all of midgard. Complete opposites, they somehow got along terrifically, and at the end of last year had even won the 'cutest couple' award at the unofficial medal night (also known as the Get Wasted Party), much to Berwald's horror and Tino's joy.

Mathias watched Lukas curiously as he walked to the table. Lukas was quite lithe, and had something mystical about him, like you'd expect to feel if you were watching an elf or sprite. And his eyes were emotionless, cold. It was weird.

"Welcome to Lion dormitory!" Tino piped up the instant Lukas sat down, with Tino facing him and Mathias on his right.

"Thank you." Lukas replied. He caught Mathias's eye and Mathias realised he had been staring. He looked away, rather embarrassed. He quickly got over this, however.

"So! Where are you from?" He asked excitedly.

"Oslo." Lukas said, observing Mathias. He reminded Mathias of a Dragon watching its prey before it attacked. Only now did he notice the two lonely hair on Lukas's head that curled up. It looked as if they were floating, unattached to his head. Another mystifying thing about him.

"Are you looking forward to finding out who your Dragon will be?" Mathias asked with a grin. Lukas nodded.

"My Dragon at home died. That's why I'm here." He said. Tino and Mathias were stunned into silence. Dragons lived for centuries - Mathias couldn't comprehend Eira dying. It just couldn't ever happen, right? Berwald was the first to break the silence - although it wasn't really silence, given the hubbub surrounding them.

"I'm s'rry." He mumbled. Lukas shrugged.

"It's alright." He replied. The bell rang, loud and thunderous.

"Time to find out your Dragon companion!" Mathias said excitedly, the melancholy air quickly forgotten.


	3. One does not simply choose a Dragon

"Alright students, listen up! Before we get our dragons out, Lukas will need to pick his dragon!" Miss Arlovskaya was an extremely intimidating woman. A beautiful woman with long blond hair and piercing purple eyes, she wasn't the sort of teacher you disobeyed. She was also the world champion at dragon aerobics.

"You've all been through this, but I'll run through it again for Lukas!" They were all sat down cross legged on the grassy field, blue skies above and majestic snow-capped mountains behind Miss Arlovskaya. Mathias, Tino, Berwald and Lukas were all sitting together, Tino carefully braiding a girl's hair.

"The riderless dragons are brought out of the stable and lined up. Some may fly down by choice from the mountains. You are to stand facing them. Should a dragon choose you, it will step forward and touch you with its snout. Or knock you over. It happens sometimes. You might not get picked. If that happens, you'll be paired with a random dragon and you'll have to make the bond develop." Miss Arlovskaya barked. There was a ripple of 'yes miss' through the group, which was only about 25 students. Drage Academy took only the best or most promising students.

Mathias could now see the dragons being brought onto the field. There were only two riderless dragons. One was the black dragon he'd seen that morning in the stable. The other was a large grey dragon with shining scales and whisker-like tendrils drifting in the wind from the top of its head. He could see another dragon flying leisurely down from the mountain, a small red one which hit the ground so hard it carved grooves in the dirt. He never got over seeing dragons. They were so powerful, so majestic…

"Good luck!" Mathias whispered to Lukas as he stood up. For the first time he saw a hint of emotion in Lukas's eyes. The emotion was fear. Carefully picking his way through students, he stood resolutely in front of the three dragons in front of him. The grey one snorted and flapped its wings once, the gusts of wind caused by this making the grass shiver. For a moment Lukas and the dragons stood still, watching each other. Then the red one moved. But it didn't move forward. Instead, it lazily turned around and started to run, beating its wings. It quickly became airborne and started to fly away. A nervous giggle swept through the group. Would he get chosen? Suddenly the black one made a growling noise. Ever so slowly it stepped forward. It opened its mouth to reveal gleaming white teeth, serrated and sharp. It breathed out a trail of smoke and took a few more steps forward. Its head was barely a metre from Lukas's. Then he leaned forward and gently bumped his snout on Lukas's nose.

Slowly the group started to clap. Then it became all-out cheering. Mathias whooped and whistled, grinning widely. Lukas silently reached up and petted the dragon's head.

"Does he have a name?" He asked Miss Arlovskaya. Her stern expression softened slightly.

"It is your duty to name him." She replied. Lukas was silent for a moment.

"His name is… Arild."


	4. No feeling like flying

p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Get your dragons out!" The instant Miss Arlovskaya barked the orders, there was frenzied chaos of running students. Mathias stood up, pulling Tino up with him. br /"Come on!" He cried to them, whooping as he sprinted towards the stables. Tino squealed in delight as Berwald kneeled down and scooped him up in a piggyback, a massive, glaring, somewhat clumsy steed. Mathias weaved in between people, pumping his arms back and forth as he ran. As the first students reached the stables, everyone froze. They slowly inched away from the opening and instead lined up along the sides. A last year girl had got to the stable first, so it was her duty to open the stall doors. They could all be opened at once by a stiff wooden lever on the side of the stable, which was painted a deep purple. With a grunt she started to push up the lever, her arms trembling slightly. Everyone held their breath. clunk! The lever slid up and the air was filled with a cacophony of grating noises as stall doors opened./p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"The dragons parading out of the stable was a beautiful sight. First came a small white wyvern, already wearing a majestic silver saddle, walking on its two legs and beating its wings. A dark-skinned boy, Xavier, yelled 'Howlite!' and ran out of the crowd to hug her. He wrapped his arms around her neck, then scrambled onto her back. Then came the next dragon, and the next, and the next. When Eira walked out of the stable Mathias instantly ran to her, jumping on her /"Are you ready?" He asked her with a grin. His saddle was teal, and at the front of the saddle was, on each side, two handles. Gently he squeezed his knees and Eira obediently walked forward, wings folded up to each side of her body. Mathias led her to be beside Lukas and Arild, who was sitting on Arild's grey saddle and looking somewhat out of /"Want to ride together?" He called to him. Lukas glanced at him and nodded. Mathias felt an unexplainable rush of pleasure at being accepted by /"Listen up, students!" Somehow Miss Arlovskaya's voice was louder than all the dragon roars and yelling students. Everyone hushed their dragons and surrounded her in a circle. Miss Arlovskaya herself was riding Phoenix, a sleek golden dragon with an unusually long neck and spikes on the end of his /"It's only the second week of the school year, so I still want you to keep getting used to being back in the saddle. Fly wherever you want, but no further than twenty minutes flying from Drage Academy. I'll send up a dragon flare when I want you back." She ordered. Mathias leaned /"Lets fly low today." He whispered to Eira. She nodded slightly in /"Line up!" Miss Arlovskaya yelled. Slowly the dragons and their riders started to line up facing the mountains, a line of excited teenagers and impatient dragons, pawing the ground and some breathing tiny flickers of flame. Not all dragons could breathe fire - Eira couldn't - but a few could, resulting in the wooden stable being made of the only fireproof wood in the world, Ashbitten /"Three!" She /"Two!"br /"One!"br /"Fly!"/p  
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Mathias urged Eira forward and they were quickly running. Lukas was beside them, carefully guiding Arild forward. Arild tugged slightly against his orders but he managed to keep in /"Easy, its alright.." Mathias could hear him /"Alright, Eira, let's fly!" He cried. Eira opened her mouth and roared, a deep melodic rumble, and spread her wings. She started to flap them, head bobbing up and down. With a leap they were off, Mathias straining to keep on the saddle and gripping the handles, having to lean forward slightly to do so. After a few moments they were leveled out, gliding over the field. Glancing behind him, he saw Lukas approaching. He slowed Eira slightly so they were in line with /"Hey! Want to fly low?" He called. br /"Alright." Lukas called back. Mathias grinned. He'd show off how awesome he was in the /"Hey, Eira. Let's show him our barrel roll." He whispered. With a powerful flap he and Eira gained height. Then he leaned /"Watch this!" He yelled to Lukas. He leaned in until he was almost lying on Eira. She pulled her wings in and they rolled, Mathias screaming happily. Then her wings snapped out again and they were flying again. Mathias saw the hint of a smile on Lukas's face. They gained enough height to easily get over the mountains, then leveled out again. Lukas looked down at the mountains and smiled a little. Then Lukas looked forward again and his eyes /"Look out!"/p 


	5. The war on Swedes

"Huh?" Mathias looked in front of him and yelped in fright. A dragon and rider were flying right at them, the dragon exhaling bursts of flames.

"Eira, dive!" He cried, pushing downwards on the saddle. She quickly curled her wings in and shot down like a bullet. Mathias felt the heat of fire on his neck as the dragon passed them, its clawed foot nearly blinding him as it grazed his cheek. He touched his cheek. Little pinpricks of blood were blossoming on it. Guiding Eira to level out and turn around, he quickly pursued the dragon, which he now saw was a dark teal wyvern, and rider that had almost decapitated him. He saw Lukas already racing after the teal dragon, encouraging Arild to go faster with every beat of his wings. Mathias came level to Lukas, leaning forward in the saddle in case the wind pushed him off the saddle.

"Who the shit was that?" Lukas yelled at him.

"There are only two teal dragons at Drage Academy and only one of them is a wyvern. It's gotta be Feliks." He called back angrily. Feliks was obnoxious and a bully. He wouldn't put this past him. Lukas's emotionless gaze seemed to look right through Feliks and his wyvern.

"We aren't going to catch him." He called, gently turning Arild away from the chase. With an angry growl Mathias flew after him. As Feliks flew out of sight, they slowly glided over Drage Academy, circling so high up that the few people walking around could barely be seen.

"You're bleeding." Lukas said with a frown. Mathias ducked his head and wiped his cheek. His hand came back smeared with thin lines of red.

"I'm fine." He replied, distracting Lukas from his wound with extravagant flying manoeuvres.

"Let's show him our falling arrow move!" Mathias murmured to Eira. She nodded, grey eyes blinking slowly. With a whoop, Mathias held on tight as Eira started to fly straight upwards, gaining height in short bursts with each beat of her bat-like wings. When they'd gained about a hundred metres of height, Eira turned. They were motionless for a single second. Then Eira dived down. Mathias held on tight as they spun around and around, facing straight towards the ground. Just as it looked like they were about to slam into the square, Eira's wings shot out and they leveled out. Mathias realised he'd been holding his breath and exhaled with a grin.

He lazily flew back to where Lukas was circling.

"Cool, huh?" He said with a smile. Lukas nodded. Then he smiled at Mathias. He was about to say something when a loud bang caught their attention. Eira sniffed, and opened her jaws. She roared deeply. From every direction Mathias could hear the roars of other dragons responding to the dragon flare, which the dragons could smell from many miles away.

"Time to go back." Mathias said with a sigh. Lukas also looked rather disappointed, but he was silent as he guided Arild back down to the field. Eira made a guttural bark and Mathias patted her neck.

"We'll get to fly again soon, don't worry." He reassured her.

Back on the ground, Miss Arlovskaya commanded the students attention once again. The dragons were milling about nearby, some settling down for a nap, and the students sat on the grass, all looking rather windblown.

"Today was your last day like this. Tomorrow we start lessons on archery." She barked.

"Class dismissed."

"Hey Mathias." Oh no. He'd recognise that voice anywhere.

"Go away, Feliks." He didn't turn to look back at him as he, Tino, Berwald and Lukas walked away from the field.

"Mathias, don't antagonise him! Just ignore him!" Tino pleaded. Berwald glared straight ahead but his knuckles were white. Lukas looked more confused than concerned.

"I'm talking to you, Mathias." A hand pulled Mathias's shoulder, whirling him around. He nearly fell over but righted himself just in time to stare into the face of Julchen, Feliks's girlfriend and basically his muscleman - musclewoman? It was almost funny to see them walk together, delicate Feliks dwarfed by his aggressive german sweetheart.

"He's talking to you, honey." Julchen smirked and pushed him away from her. She was stronger than even Mathias and he had to take a step back. If looks could kill, Berwald's glare would have murdered everyone in the field at this point. Everybody else was choosing to pointedly ignore their goings-on, reluctant to be the next target. Feliks smiled warmly at Mathias.

"I'm so sorry for what happened up there with me and Sebastian." Feliks said with a glance at Sebastian, who was stretching his wings.

"But, you know.." The malicious glint in Feliks's eye shined.

"One really can't help but dislike Swedish sympathisers." He added innocently. Mathias couldn't help but snarl, his hands curling into fists.

"Berwald has nothing to do with the war against Sweden!" He growled. Feliks smiled slightly.

"One never knows, do they? I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him." He commented.

"Stop it!" Tino demanded, looking at Feliks with a furious expression. He made to step forward but Berwald stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"It's not worth it." He muttered, turning and starting to walk away.

"This isn't over, Feliks." Mathias growled, giving him and Julchen the finger before stomping angrily away.

"What a dickhead." Lukas said quietly as they walked away through the square. Mathias nodded, trying to calm down and failing miserably. He saw Berwald stomping away towards their dormitory, Tino trailing after him with a worried look on his face. Was that a tear on Berwald's cheek, or was he just imagining things?


	6. A game of soccer to lighten the mood

Four weeks passed. Dragon riding sessions, maths classes and history lectures merged into one in Mathias's memory. But Mathias was starting to notice a troubling problem. It invaded his time into his thoughts, it nagged away in the back of his mind. Like It was such a pressing issue that he would often find himself gazing off into nothing thinking about it. For reasons Mathias was unable to explain, he had developed a crush on Lukas.

It wasn't something that could be described, really. But whenever Mathias was around Lukas he felt happy, very happy, and he felt at home. He'd only told Eira about it, and although her sympathetic growls relieved his troubled heart somewhat, she wasn't the world's best conversation partner. So he stuck to Lukas like glue, attempting to make his pining as inconspicuous as possible.

"Mathias. Oi. Mathias!"

"What?" Mathias blinked. He'd been staring off into space again.

"Turn your brain on already, we're about to start!" Tino gently punched his arm. Oh, right. It was sunday, their day off, and the school was playing soccer. It was Lion, Wolf and Hawk dormitories against Eagle, Snake and Bear.

"Yeah, I'm ready." Said Mathias with a grin, glancing at the opposition. Lucille prowled the goal, her golden hair tied up in a bun. In their own goal Eva stood, looking impossibly delicate. Her big brother Vash stood close by protectively.

"ALRIGHT!" Miss. Arlovskaya roared, holding the soccer ball high in the air.

"THREE!"

"TWO!"

"ONE!"

"GO!"

Mathias sprung into action, racing after the ball she had thrown in. Julchen bore down on him like a malicious stampeding bull, but he was faster than her. With a sidestep he raced past her, kicking the ball to Lukas. Wow, Lukas looked really good when he ran. Like, wow. That hair… Mathias zoned out so much that he nearly got knocked right over by a passing player. Lukas passed it to another girl, who just managed to get a goal. For a few minutes neither side got another goal. Mathias received the ball and kicked it to Lukas.s It was intercepted, however, by Julchen, who clearly didn't like Mathias managing to evade her. Ignoring the rest of her teammates, she raced down the field. Vash stood in front of the goal looking petrified. She kicked. The ball flew past Vash. Then there was a thumping noise. There was a collective sharp intake of breath. Eva stood in the middle of the goal, clutching the ball she had somehow caught to her chest.

"Holy shit…." Someone breathed. Then they started to cheer. Everyone, even from the other team, celebrated Eva's miracle catch. She dropped the ball like a hot coal and quickly kicked it back into play, looking rather sheepish. After wearing himself racing back and forth to the ball, Mathias dropped back to stand with Vash for a bit.

"Your sister's amazing!" He commented. Vash crossed his arms.

"She's going to get herself hurt." Vash always sounded protective when he talked about Eva, so Mathias let the topic lie. Turning his attention to the game, he gasped in amazement.

"Is that Berwald..?" He breathed. Like a furious rhino, Berwald was racing down the field, ball bobbing ahead of him.

"He's gonna make it!" Mathias cried in delight. And it did look like Berwald was going to make it, the gap between him and the goal shortening with every step.

 _Thump!_ It looked like it came out of nowhere, but suddenly Berwald's leg buckled as someone's foot - there were too many people around him to see who it was - tripped him. He fell roughly to the ground, the ball skittering away.

"Berwald! Are you alright?" Tino ran to his side, ignoring the ball roll past him. Mathias ran forwards, a frown on his face. What a blatant act of meanness. With Tino and Mathias's help, Berwald stood. His ankle had twisted and he winced every time he took a step, but he refused assistance walking to the great hall.

"Berwald.." Tino called plaintively after him, but either he was out of earshot or chose to ignore him.

Later that day, Mathias walked into his dorm. Glancing at Tino and Berwald's bunk, he frowned slightly. A piece of paper lay on Berwald's pillow. A look wouldn't hurt, right? He leant down and picked it up. Scrawled across it in deep red ink, it read,

'Swedish scum!'


	7. Night Rider

"Hey Lukas?" Mathias mumbled, staring at the ceiling on his bed. It was pitch black, and the only sound was Tino's quiet snuffling snores.

"You should be asleep. We have a riding test tomorrow." Lukas said back. Mathias leaned over his bed and grinned, staring at Lukas upside down.

"Want to go for a ride right now?" He suggested. Lukas stared at him with an impassive gaze.

"It's one in the morning." He pointed out. Mathias shrugged.

"Are you coming or what?"

"Arild makes a fuss if I wake him up early." Lukas protested. Mathias bit his lip, an idea growing.

"We'll just take Eira then!" He whispered back. The square was well lit up by a bright full moon. The fountain trickled quietly as the two snuck across the cobbled square. Finally they were at the stable.

"Door's closed." Mathias grumbled. He tugged lightly and it opened slightly. With a grunt he pulled on it with all his might and it slowly creaked open. He winced as it grated against a rock, but finally it was open enough for them to walk in. It took a few moments for their eyes to adjust to the dim light. They slowly walked in, groping around in the dark for something to hold on.

"Eira?" Mathias hissed. He squinted at the metal name plate nailed onto the stall door he was holding onto. 'Eira'. He pushed open the stall door, ushering Lukas in after him.

"Oi. Eira. Get up." He said softly, nudging her shoulder. With a soft growl she opened one large grey eye and looked at Mathias.

"Hey. Want to go for a ride?" He asked. She lifted her head up and dipped it slightly. Mathias grinned.

"Let's get you saddled up then!"

It was a struggle getting Eira out of the stable without waking up any of the other dragons, but finally they were in the square. Mathias felt a thrill as Lukas's arms clasped around his waist.

"Alright, let's go!" He gently urged Eira forwards and she started to run, every clack of her claws on the stone ground sounding like a deafening crash in the silent darkness. With one great push of her wings, they were off the ground. Soon they were gliding upwards, into the mountains. They followed the small dirt path leading away from Drage Academy for a while, before starting to descend onto the very top of a snowclad mountain. The moment they landed, Mathias hopped off Eira and helped Lukas off her. They sat on the snow, looking down onto Drage Academy, the wind cutting through their pyjamas.

"Great view, huh?" Mathias murmured, looking up at the sky. Thousands of stars twinkled in a black and purple sky, the moon beaming down on them. Below them Drage Academy sat magnificently, surrounded by mountains looking like sentinels all around. Lukas looked so peaceful, looking up to the sky. The stars twinkled in his eyes, the wind blowing his beautiful blond hair.

"Um…. Lukas.." Mathias swallowed, his mouth suddenly not wanting to work. Lukas looked at him and raised his eyebrows slightly.

"Yeah?" Mathias wanted this moment, this peaceful limbo, to last forever. He took a deep breath of the cold mountain air.

"I…. I really like you. A lot." He confessed, feeling his cheeks fill red. Lukas's eyes widened a little but they betrayed no emotion.

"I really like you a lot too." Lukas replied. They stared at each other, Mathias stunned. Then they started to lean towards each other. As a thousand stars shone above them, they kissed, and it felt like just for an instant, time stopped.


	8. A hero's mission

Mathias's sleep that night was full of dragon rides in the dead of night, gliding on northern winds. Lukas was in his dreams, too, but he was falling. Mathias dived down on his dragon, desperate to catch him. He could see his mouth, screaming. He couldn't make out the words. Just as their hands almost touched Lukas shattered into a thousand pieces.

He woke up gasping, as Lukas nudged his shoulder urgently.

"Mathias? Are you alright?" He asked, his normally emotionless face frowning in concern. Mathias struggled to regulate his breathing.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." He said with a forced grin. Lukas blinked.

"Alright, but get up. Erik wants to talk to us." He said. Mathias's heart skipped a beat. Oh no. Their escape had been seen! It was probably Feliks that ratted on them. Damn it.

"Alright, let's get it over with." He sighed, grabbing his clothes, which were lain messily over his bed like usual.

"Alright, boys, listen carefully because this is important." Erik's voice sounded deadly serious. Mathias tried to make himself look as innocent as possible, even crossing his legs as he sat. Beside him, Lukas sat rigidly on a carved wooden chair. Erik stroked his beard meditatively.

"Yes, sir?" Mathias asked as politely as he could.

"I think I'd better fill you in with what's being going on." He said after a pause. Mathias perked up a little - so this wasn't about their night ride.

"The Swedish forces have been getting closer across the mountains, and the army of Norway is falling back." He said gravely. Mathias felt an unpleasant churning in his stomach.

"So, just to be on the safe side, teachers have been going on daily patrols." He continued.

"However, this morning, Natalya didn't return." Mathias looked at him blankly. Lukas rolled his eyes.

"That's miss Arlovskaya's first name." He mumbled. Mathias blushed a little. How could he not know that?

"We've decided to start evacuating the school tomorrow, so all the teachers are very busy today. I'm the one going to look for her. Now, I know you two are competent riders with sensible minds, so I need you two to patrol the mountains today - but don't go so far that you can't see Drage Academy." He said severely. Mathias nodded eagerly.

"Yes, sir!" He cried, excited to be going what in his mind's eye was a knight's mission. Lukas shot him a worried look.

"I've talked with your teachers, so don't worry about being held up by anybody. But don't go too far away from Drage Academy." Erik repeated darkly. Mathias saluted and shot out of the grand hall, dragging Lukas behind him.

"Can you believe it?" He bubbled as he saddled up Eira.

"A real mission! This is going to be so much fun!" He continued. Lukas frowned a little, already sitting on Arild.

"Didn't you hear him talking about the war?" He said rather snappishly.

"We're going to have to evacuate!" He said worriedly. Mathias grinned.

"It's going to be an adventure." He proclaimed, buckling on Eira's saddle and clambering onto her. They walked their dragons out of the stable and were quickly flying. Below them, they saw students with wax tablets sitting on the grass.

"We get to miss out on flight theory!" Mathias cried happily. If there was anything he hated more than Feliks, it was flight theory. Lukas rolled his eyes and turned Arild sharply.

"Come on." He called. A little voice in Mathias's head told him to take this seriously, that they were in danger, but he ignored it. The army couldn't be that close if Erik was letting them fly, right?


	9. Into the forest

"This is awesome!" Mathias whooped, urging Eira to go faster. They were flying just over the mountains, occasionally having to swerve to avoid a high peak.

"I don't like this." Lukas called back, gripping his saddle with white knuckles.

"What could go wrong? Seriously, all we're doing is a patrol! It's like being in the army!" Mathias said casually.

"Race you to that peak!" He called, guiding Eira to dive down towards the mountains. They glided over snow low enough to almost touch it, the glare making Mathias squint. He felt a brush of air as Lukas and Arild flew past them.

"Faster!" He yelled to Eira excitedly. They were battling for first place, neck in neck. Lukas reached the top first, catching a wind and gliding slowly on it.

"You cheated!" Mathias accused, and Lukas smirked.

"Sore loser." He replied, as they flew side by side.

"We should turn back." Lukas said. Mathias looked behind him. Drage Academy was only just visible behind them.

"Yeah.." He mumbled unhappily. If they had to do this all day, he would quickly get bored. He gazed longingly out where they couldn't fly. They were on the border of a forest on the side of a mountain, each tree snowcapped. Through the trees Mathias saw something glint.

"Hey… Do you see that?" He landed Eira and Lukas followed suit, Arild's claws sinking into the snow. Mathias scrambled off Eira and helped Lukas down. They peered into the forest. Whatever it was glinted again, a tiny shining… something.

"Oh, yeah, I see it." Lukas muttered, frowning.

"We shouldn't go in…" He said uneasily. Mathias raised his eyebrows.

"Who has to know?" He challenged, and stomped into the forest, his boots sinking into soft snow with every step. With a quiet groan Lukas walked into the forest behind him. Pine trees hemmed them in on every side, and Mathias yelped as a branch swaying in the wind whacked his face. But finally they were almost up to the glinting-something. They could hear talking.

"Miss Arlovskaya!" Mathias gasped, and started to run towards the talking. He was stopped by Lukas's hand grabbing his collar.

"Shut up." He whispered, ushering Mathias towards a boulder. They crouched behind it. Mathias shot Lukas a furious look but Lukas shushed him. They peeked over the boulder and Mathias had to stifle a gasp. Oh no.

He couldn't count how many Swedish soldiers were in the tent-filled glade. Men and women wearing yellow and blue decorated armor milled around fires and wood piles. A white dragon poked his head into the glade through a veil of branches. He could now hear the footsteps of other dragons nearby. From the nearest tent loud swearing could be heard. That was Miss Arlovskaya's voice! Mathias tried to get a better view but Lukas pulled him down again.

"We need get back to the Academy and warn everyone." He whispered. Mathias nodded, and with a final glance back they turned around to see their noses almost touching someone's leg. Mathias looked up and swallowed. A bulky Swedish woman with heavy armor, long blond hair and a sword in her hand glared down at them.

A/N: sorry for the short chapters :0 the next one will be a bit longer, I promise!


	10. Panic! at the academy

Now, when you're cornered by a warrior wielding a nasty-looking sword, your brain tends to freeze up a bit. His blood rushing in his ears and his hands freezing in the snow, Mathias gaped up at her, mouth open and eyes wide. The woman looked down at them and moved to swing her sword. Suddenly, Lukas screamed. It was such a loud, piercing noise that birds flew out of the trees like a storm. The warrior glanced at him for barely a second, but Mathias took the chance. He dived around her and started to race through the snow.

"Stop those kids!" The woman roared. He could hear the calls of the people in the camp.

"Lukas, hurry up!" Mathias yelled behind him as Lukas stumbled through the snow. He grabbed Lukas's hand and ran through the snow with them. The soldier was hot on their tail, her angry grunts sounding like thunder. Mathias's heart pounded in his chest as he ducked under a branch. They weren't going to make it. He heard the powerful roar of a dragon in front of them. Then the muffled thud of a tree falling to the ground drifted through the air.

"Eira!" Mathias yelled. The sounds of branches breaking and trees falling came closer. Suddenly he was covered in shadow.

"Duck!" Lukas shrieked and tackled Mathias to the ground. He fell face-down in the snow. Just behind them, Eira slammed down to the ground, her tail waving dangerously close to them. She growled at the swedish soldier. Mathias couldn't see what was happening but it sounded like the Swedish woman was running away to get reinforcements. He scrambled to his feet and ran to Eira.

"Thank god, I thought she was going to chop us in half…" Mathias breathed, patting Eira's back leg. He jumped onto her saddle and Lukas climbed on behind him. There was only just enough space for both of them on the saddle, and with Eira nervously pawing the ground Mathias had a hard time staying on.

"Settle down and get us the hell out of here!" He grunted. Eira galloped rather clumsily through the trail of destruction she had created in the forest. From behind them, Mathias heard the gutteral roar of a dragon.

"They'll never be able to evacuate the academy fast enough..." He said, his breath coming quick and shallow.

"We're going to die!" He cried, the reality of the situation hitting him. Eira spread her wings and they flew, Mathias urging her on as tears were tugged out of his eyes. Lukas rested his head on Mathias's back, his arms wrapped around his waist.

"It's going to be okay." Lukas whispered. Mathias closed his eyes and took a deep, ragged breath. As they flew as fast as they could towards the Academy, Lukas hummed. The quiet song soothed Mathias, his fluttering heart slowing and calming.

Everybody was sitting on their dragons being debriefed when Mathias and Lukas landed on the field. Behind them Arild was a growing speck. Beyond that Mathias could imagine the group of soldiers approaching.

"Mr. Galante!" Mathias yelled, trotting towards him. Mr. Galante was a rather meek man, and had a look of mild concern as Mathias and Lukas pushed through the circular crowd towards them.

"Mathias? What's going on?" Tino's worried voice averted Mathias's attention for a second, but there wasn't any time to waste. He took a deep breath, then looked Mr. Galante in the eye.

"There is a Swedish scouting legion, of around 30 dragon-riding soldiers, approaching the academy right now. We need to get the hell out of here." He said. Instantly the crowd exploded into murmurs and exclamations.

"Mathias, what the shit are you smoking?" Xavier's incredulous voice was the loudest.

"If we don't evacuate right now, our dragons are going to be taken from us!" Mathias snarled.

"And in a worst case scenario, we're all going to die!" He roared. The babble instantly shut up. Mr. Galante looked like a leaf in wind, trembling ever so slightly.

"Lukas, is this true?" He asked meekly. Lukas closed his glassy eyes and nodded solemnly.

"But it'll take us a good half an hour to evacuate the students in the sick bay!" Feliks yelled. The crowd exploded into chatter again, some kids panicking, others excited.

"This is Berwald's fault! He's an inside spy!" The accusation came from deep within the conversation, but all eyes instantly turned to Berwald. Sitting on his dragon and staring at the ground, the air grew dead silent.

"He wouldn't.."

"That's crazy. Right?"

"Swedish scum." Feliks snarled.

"Stop it!" Tino begged.

"We have more important things to do than fight amongst ourselves!" He cried. Suddenly, Lukas spoke.

"Everybody shut up. I have a plan."


	11. Rescue Mission

Mathias could hear his blood rushing in his ears as he lay on Eira's back, hiding in the shadow of the barn. The others were heading down the trail away from Drage Academy atop their dragons, the students from the sick bay lain on a cart pulled by an old yellow dragon. Only Lukas and Mathias remained, breathing shallowly as they waited for the oncoming army. It wouldn't take them long at all to saddle up their dragons and fly in. As they waited in the crushing silence, Mathias wondered how poor Berwald was. When he'd left with the rest of them he'd looked emotionless, but Mathias could tell he felt awful. There was nothing they could do about that now, though. As long as the plan worked he would be fine. But would the plan work? It was simple enough. A few students would walk their dragons alongside the cart with the injured students in case they were targeted by the Swedes, and the rest were to fly to the closest town and alert them. Mathias and Lukas's job was to save Miss Arlovskaya, a mission Mr. Galante didn't want them going on. He hadn't stopped them, though. Mathias frowned a little as he thought how angry Erik would be at Mr. Galante when he got back. Maybe he'd even get fired.

In Mathias's right hand he held a bow, and across his back was a quiver full of arrows. He was rather worried about that - he was a terrible shot. A sword hung by his side, which also worried him; he loved using weapons but was absolutely awful at it.

"There." Lukas's hiss jolted him out of his anxiety and he nervously peeked around the side of the barn. Sure enough, there were small specks on the horizon that were swiftly getting larger.

"Alright, let's go." Mathias said back. Taking a deep breath, he guided Eira forwards. With a powerful leap they were in flight, and soon they were hovering high above the school, Mathias holding a trembling bow in his hand. Lukas and Arild were soon next to them and they watched for a moment as the army got closer.

"Almost…" Lukas murmured. Mathias could now see there had to be at least 30 of them approaching them in an arrow formation.

"Now!" Lukas yelled, and Mathias nodded. He flew forwards and upwards, pulling an arrow out of his quiver. Aiming it shakily, he fired. The arrow missed. No more time to waste. As Lukas started to fly away from the oncoming horde, keeping just out of range of their weapons, Mathias flew up into the clouds. He could hear their commanding yells. He could just see their outlines through the wispy clouds as they flitted past. He swallowed and urged Eira to go faster.

It felt like an eternity. After Mathias felt it was safe enough they went below the cloud line so he could see the ground. Below him the snow and trees went on forever. Above him the sky was a sheet of grey, the sun nowhere in sight. Where in all of middle earth was the camp?! Finally he saw the clearing. In case they'd left anyone at the camp, he searched for somewhere nearby to land. Slowly Eira glided to a stop next to a trickling river upwind of the campsite.

"Be good, stay here." He mumbled, pressing his forehead against Eira's snout. She licked his nose in reply and he laughed a little.

"Be safe." He said, pulling his sword and starting to walk through the gloomy pine forest.

To say Mathias was jumpy would have been an understatement. Every cracking twig, crunching leaf or blowing gale made him freeze up in fear. Being alone amplified his terror, and he kept looking behind himself nervously. After a few nerve-wracked minutes he was on the outskirts of the camp. Perhaps even scarier deserted, it was eerily silent. The fire had been stamped out and there were pockets of grass poking up between the snow where things had been picked up and boots had been stomping. There were lots of greyish fur tents. Mathias tiptoed through the campsite, poking his head into the tents one by one. The first three had nothing in them except furs on the ground and lanterns hanging from the wooden support poles, but the fourth was different.

"Miss Arlovskaya!" Mathias gasped. His teacher was looking rather worse for wear. Hands tied to the tent's support poles by thick rope, she looked tired and pale but otherwise mostly unharmed.

"Mathias?" She said, scrunching up her nose in confusion.

"Quickly, we've gotta get back to the school, the Swedes are invading and then they'll invade the town and-" Mathias paused for breath, awkwardly using his sword to cut the ropes. As soon as she was free she stood up and stretched.

"Alright. See if you can find Phoenix." She ordered, striding purposefully out of the tent. Mathias followed, relieved to have someone else with him. In his happiness he didn't notice the Swedish warrior jumping him from behind. He felt something hit his back and he gasped, knocked forward into the snow. He fell at a bad angle and felt something in his ankle snap.

"Shit!" Miss Arlovskaya exclaimed, dodging a sword swipe. Mathias tried to wobble to his feet but he felt a sickening thud as the butt of a sword hit his jaw, and the world darkened to black.


End file.
